Howdy!

That is pretty cool to hear about all the changes that have happened.  What are the stake boundaries now?

Anyways, this past week was great.  We got a new district leader this past week, Elder Adam Kump from Gilbert.  He shared with us his conversion story and how he knew this was the true church because of the Spirit that he felt.  Also, Joaquin was confirmed on Sunday and has already started sharing the gospel with his friends; he is on fire!  We've seen many miracles as we strive for exact obedience.  We've put up an "altar of sacrifice" for all the disobedient things that we are doing and as such strive to change that, something I really need to improve on is nightly journal writing.

We have this Gladys Knight devotional coming up next weekend and we were able to get a lot of tickets out to our members and their non-member friends so we're hoping to see some good fruits from this experience.  Today we had district meeting and interviews with President Saylin; he told me how he went to the Mesa Temple this past weekend and said how much he enjoyed it.

The work is going great; I love the gospel.  I've been studying lately about the faith that the brother of Jared had and especially how to emulate that faith.  There's a talk by Elder Gene R. Cook that talks about Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and how faith is what "makes things happen".  It has reminded me of the power of true faith, nothing wavering and the miracles that come when we are fully committed.  I hope you all have a great week and continue to see the blessings of the Lord.

Les quiero y aprecio mucho,

Elder Cooley

Como estamos?

Sounds like some good stuff has happened this past week and that there'll be some good stuff happening this next week.

This past week has been great here also.  President Saylin called for a special meeting for all Spanish missionaries and we talked about how to better embrace the culture and how to better help out those we teach.  A lot of the native missionaries gave talks and also Presidente Del Aguila, a counselor to President Saylin, who's been in Houston for a long time and has seen the church grow.  He related us the story of how a little branch grew into 2 stakes in less than 30 years and he attributed the success to the Lord and also to the amount of activities that they had.  I feel very blessed to serve here in Houston among the Hispanic people, from a lot of other countries.  For the past week we have been "fasting" from English, o sea, we only speak English when it's completely necesario. I have seen my Spanish improve a lot this past week and I'll definitely continue fasting.

This past week an investigator fed us pulpo chiquito, and it wasn't calamari, it was straight up baby octopus, good stuff if I might say so myself.  Then of course, Joaquin's baptism was amazing.  It was the smoothest baptism I've had on the mission and because of that the Spirit was unrestrained.  He was planning on his mom and family not being able to come, but then the member family that fellowshipped him were able to surprise him and they showed up right on time.  There were a lot of people who showed up from the ward to support him also, which showed to his family how much we truly cared about him and the decision he was making.  We will shortly begin to teach the mom and family because of his awesome ejemplo.

The work continues to roll on and it sure is good stuff.  As for transfers, me and Elder Heidt are staying!  So nothing new besides the awesome opportunity I have to continue to serve in this great ward and with such great missionaries.  I hope you all have a great week!

Love, Elder Cooley



Howdy,

Sounds like it's been pretty Hot in Arizona. Today I'm actually on an exchange and the other elder's bike is out of commission so we've been privileged to walk.

This past week was great! So Friday came and we drove to a chapel in downtown Houston and we were able to Hear from Elders Flukeager? (Seventy), Elder Neilson (Area Seventy), and Elder Holland.  First order of business was that he wanted to shake all of the missionaries’ hands, almost 500 from the 3 Houston Missions.  Elder Holland first talked about the fruits of missionary work and mentioned that his father was a convert.  Then he encouraged us to not waste a minute, he said his mission meant everything to him and he can't think of one day in the last 49 years that he's been back from his mission that he hasn't thought of his mission.  He spoke very powerfully and lovingly.  He said we are "engaged in the salvation of a human soul", the most important work that can be done.  His words definitely inspired me to not waste a moment and to get everything I possibly could from my mission seeing as how 2 years is a short period of time and it seems that every day goes by faster than the last.

As for the work, we should be having a baptism this Sunday for Joaquin.  He's 18 and the friend of a young man in the ward, he's legit.  It's amazing what the gospel can do to change people.  Moses is doing great and progressing towards baptism, just need to get his mom on board now.  Everything is going great and we are seeing more and more blessings each week as we strive for exact obedience.  I hope all is well at home and with the fam.  "I know the Book of Mormon and the Church that espouses it to be true"; there is a joy that comes from missionary work that doesn't come from anything else.

Love, Elder Cooley

Howdy!

That's too bad to hear about Daisy, I had thought about her recently and wondered how she was doing, but all is well, all dogs go to heaven.

Happy 33rd anniversary mom and dad!  Thanks so much for the birthday package; it was everything I wanted and more.

As for this past week it was good stuff.  We taught Moses a couple times and he is beginning to pray on his own and recognize the Spirit he feels when he prays.  Then on Sunday he came to church and loved it.  In a month, Gladys Knight will be coming to Houston with her Saints Unified Voices Choir; it'll be an awesome concert/devotional deal that we are getting all of the members to invite their friends to.  Apparently whenever and wherever she does it the missionary work increases tenfold.  So it'll be good stuff.

This Friday Elder Holland is coming to speak to the 3 Houston missions which everyone is excited about.  We have a lot of great investigators now; the only hold up is getting them to church so we're trying to get more members out with us so that they can fellowship them.  When member missionary work is combined with that of the full-time missionaries the work moves a lot faster.  Anyways, things are going great here in Houston.  I ate a lot of pupusas this past week, they're delicious, and I would encourage you to make them.  The gospel is perfect, God loves His children, that's why I'm out here - to help people feel of His love and come to know of the fullness of His blessings.  

I hope you all have a great week!  I love you all very much,

Elder Cooley 

Howdy! That sounds like a great stake conference.  Also, Happy 33rd anniversary Mom and Dad!  Thanks for being such awesome parents!

Benton started kindergarten?  That's ridiculous; all these kids are growing up too fast.

As for this past week we have made it a focus to implement a lot of the trainings that we have received, mainly with working with the members more.  We have a lot of great members in the ward who need the blessings of missionary work.  The work is moving forward.  We have an investigator who's been having some problems with an evil spirit so we were able to give her a blessing and bless her house.  Moses is still reading and praying and we were able to somewhat give him a tour of the church yesterday.

I've definitely learned a lot from Elder Heidt, he's a great missionary.  Both of us got a little sick this past week and all we've been able to eat has been bananas, rice, apple sauce, and toast so that's been fun but thankfully it didn't hinder us from working. Anyways, all is going great, there's nothing better than sharing the gospel.  I've realized that my missionary purpose begins with "Inviting others to come unto Christ by helping them...", it's the little things that go a long way, the things that we have covenanted to do as members of the church, to help others and stand as witnesses of God at all times.  

Well, hope all is going well and that y'all have a great week!

Con gran amor,

Elder Cooley

Howdy! Sounds like everything is going well at home, Diana and Josh getting settled into their new place, new bishop for Heritage Park ward.

So this past Friday we were biking around in Fresno and we stopped on the side of the road to give someone a call.  While we were stopped a car drove past us and then turned around and stopped behind us.  The driver then got out of the car and walked up to us and we began to talk.  He asked us what we did because he had seen others like us in his pais (country).  We got to talking and he said he didn't really believe in God but he wanted to know if He existed so he asked if we had time to talk right then... so we followed him home on our bikes.  We found out his name was Moises, he's 15 years old, and he's from Nicaragua.  The first person I've met from Nicaragua; I think I've met people from all of Central and South America now.  Anyways, we gave him a Book of Mormon and invited him to Maria's baptism on Saturday.

Then Saturday, we had the baptism, the smoothest running baptism of my mission.  Moises came along with 3 other investigators.  Sadly, Maria's parents weren't able to make it, but she has a very strong testimony nonetheless.

Yesterday we had Zone Conference; it was legit and basically everything I needed.  Elder Heidt and I have committed anew to be exactly obedient, even in the little things, and we have definitely seen the blessings flow.

Moises read Moroni 10 twice to make sure he understood it well and then prayed about it and he said he felt good, and then he got scared because he had never felt that way before.

Today we heard from an investigator about how he wasn't going to let us in because we were church people and he doesn't like church people; but he said that God told him that we were good and would help his family out, so we've been teaching them and they are awesome.

Those are just a few of the great experiences I've had this past week.  I know the gospel's true and that this is what life is all about, inviting others to come unto Christ.  I feel privileged to be an instrument in the hands of the Lord and to serve among the people of Texas.

Love, Elder Cooley

Hey Family!

Sounds like everything is going good with y'all. As for having any storms, there hasn't been anything unusual here in Houston. There was a tropical storm in Corpus Cristi supuestamente this past weekend but not sure. As for the weather, it changes a lot here, the clouds are always moving. In the morning we'll go out and it'll be clear skies and by the afternoon it'll be overcast and then it'll pour rain for about 10 mins and then stop. It's a lot different than Arizona for sure.

I was able to house 3 new missionaries on Tuesday night in my apartment before they met their trainers on Wednesday. It was a great experience to talk with them, they seemed very nervous but anxious to get to work. One of the Elders was Elder Paz, he was born in Honduras, moved to Louisiana 5 years ago, and baptized 4 years ago with his family, he's awesome. As for my new companions, I have Elder Kobayashi and Elder Heidt. Their area that was adjacent to mine just combined so now we have a big area. But Elder Kobayashi finishes his mission this next week so once he is gone it'll just be me and Elder Heidt.

As for Maria Llanas, her parents support her in her baptism now (at least the dad) and she will be getting baptized this Saturday! Last Sunday she took 2 friends to the English ward and invited all of the youth there to come to the baptism.

The work of the Lord is going great in this part of the vineyard. I love y'all and hope this next week is full of tender mercies and the Spirit.

Con amor, Elder Cooley